Sign.



PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. G. L. MASON.

SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED APR.28, 1905. RENEWED AUG. 29. 1907.

3 SHBETS-SHBET 1.

10:41; firm PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. G. L. MASON.

SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED APR.28. 1905.

RENEW-ED AUG. 29, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

m I 0 m 0 m m a m w n n iwalw a 0m w A M NU E M flu-neuron No. 887,408.PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. G. L. MASON.

SIGN.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.2B,1905. RENEWED AUG.29.1907.

s SHEETS-SHEET s.

fma aktolneuq UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE L. MASON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE L. MASONCOMPANY,

. OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

Application filed April 28, 1905, Serial No. 257,894. Renewed August 29,1907. Serial No. 390,644.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon L. MAsoN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and

resident of the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signs, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in signs orthe like.

The ob ect of my invention is to produce a sign which can bemade up ofany desired number of letters, the si 11 being composed of a number ofunits, eac of which is complete in itself and which is capable of beingunited with a number of similar units desired to roduce a sign of anydesired length. Pre erably and as shown, each unit carries but a singleletter. It is obvious that if desired more than a single letter could becarried by a single unit or only a part of a letter carried by eachunit. Furthermore, while I have shown a separate sign section connectedto each unit, it is to be observed that if desired a si n section mayextend over all the units or a plurality of them.

My invention consist in providing a series of open ended-units which areadapted to be secured together to form an undivided box adapted tocontain illuminating means, witha si n supported by the units andadapted to be luminated by the illuminating devices.

My invention also consists in novel means for mounting the illuminatingmeans in the box so that the sign will be uniformly illuminated andilluminated without presence of light spots. In the forms of myinvention shown in this ap lication, this is effected by mounting theiluminating means in the lane of the si' n so that no light is receivedirectly from t e illuminating means, but the ligiit passing through thesign is all reflected 1g t. Y

My invention also consists in the means for supporting the sign and inusing the supporting means to support the illuminating means.

My invention further consists in certain constructions and combinationof parts which will be first described in connection with the preferredembodiment of my invention and then particularly pointed out in theclaims.

Referring to the drawings wherein the same part is designated by thesame reference numeral wherever it occurs, Figure 1 is a perspectiveView showing my sign as attache to a building and extending out at rightangles to the wall thereof. Fig. 2 is a front view of the sign partlybroken away. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section of Fig. 2. Fig. 4is a perspective view of the parts from which a complete sign isconstructed. Fig. 5 is a vertical section through one of the boxes inwhich my sign is constructed. Fig. {5) is a perspective view of amodified form of Referrin to the form of my invention shown in igs. 1 to5 inclusive, 1 designates a box which is shown as being substantiallytriangular in cross-section, the back of thebox being formed by the arts2 and 3 set at an angle to each other. hese parts 2 and 3 are formed attheir outer ends into the rolls or pockets 4-4, these rolls or pocketsforming receptacles for the illuminating means.

5 is a brace having an outline corresponding to the sectional form ofthe box, the arts being formed of the main portion 6, rol portions 77and the converging ends 8-8. As shown, these braces 5 are secured on oneend of each box and extend beyond the edge. Thus, it will be seen that Iam enabled to secure together as many of these boxes or units as desiredby inserting the projecting part of the brace 5 into the unbraced sideof another unit. The sections afterward being united by suitable screwsor bolts which are passed through the brace and the edge of the section.In this manner, a box composed of any number of sections is formed.

In order to close the open side of a box where but a single unit isused, or the open side of the boxes at the ends of a series of boxes, Iprovide caps 9 which are of the same outline as the cross-section of oneof the boxes and the sides of these caps are provided with inwardlyturned flanges 10. The cap 9 which is adapted to close the end of thebox which is not braced, is also provided with a brace 5 which isidentical with the braces of the units, this brace is slipped into theopen side of the box and is secured thereto. At the sides of a box whichis provided with a brace 5, the flan es 10 extend over the brace 5 andare secured thereto by suitable bolts or the like. Thus, the ends 9 aresecured in position in the same manner that the units are securedtogether and the end sections may be placed on any box. By thisconstruction, I form a trough which may be made up of any desired numberof units.

It wil be seen that by the construction above described a box or troughis formed which has no partitions intermediate its length and thattherefore, all parts of the sign will be equally illuminated, due to thefact that the trough is undivided.

11 are a series of short pi e sections, each section being of substantiay the length of one of the units or boxes 1. These sections between theboxes are united together by a T coupling 12 to which is secured anelbow 13 onto the other end of which is mounted the socket 14 for a lampor other illuminating devices 15. It will be seen that by thisconstruction as many of these sections as there are units or boxes aremade up into a continuous line of piping with a socket projecting foreach unit or section, the Wires, if electric lights are used beingcarried in the piping. A line so made up is placed in each end of theset of boxes, the line extending through the openings 16 in the endpieces or caps and then through the rolls 4 at eachend of the boxes.

1.7 are hangers which preferably extend through the rolls 4 and supportthe line of piping in osition. At one end the piping 1s preferab yconnected together by a section 18, thus formin a rectangular frame. Atthe other end, the piping may be rovided with suitable brackets 19 bwhich it may be secured to a wall or other evice. It will be seen thatthis line of piping will support the sign and that no other frame-work1s neces sary if the sign is to project out from a wall as shown inFig. 1. One or more guys 20 are provided which are secured to thehangers 17 in order to support the outer end of the sign, if however,the signis to run parallel to the facenf a building, then brackets areattached to eachend of the piping. It will be noticed from an inspectionof Fig. 2, that the lamps 15 or other illuminating means are within thepockets 4 and with the light from these lamps is all reflected down intothe body of the box.

21 is a plate which has formed therein a suitable sign or character tobe illuminated from the rear. For the sake of illustration, I have shownthe-form of monogram sign described and claimed in my application SerialNumber 257,893 filed April 28, 1905. As the construction of theisignitself forms no part of this invention, it will not be further de-'scribed. The plate 21 rests upon the extended edge 2222 of the rolls 4and also u on the cross-strips 6 of the braces 5. The p ate is securedto the strips 6 and projections 22 b screws or in any other mannerdesired. f desired, one end of the plate 21 may be passed under one ofthe projection lips 22 and in this case, it would only be necessary toprovide screws for the other ends thereof to secure the plate inposition.

It will be noticed that the lights 15 are substantially in the plane ofthe sign plate and that light is transmitted through the sign by beingreflected from the back of the box, the light being entirely away frombehind the sign late. This gives a erfectly uniform illumination of allparts of the sign and entirely obviates the objectional feature of lightspots which are present in all signs in which the light is behind thesign.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a modification of my structure in that each boxor unit is complete in itself, that is to say, it is composed of theback portion 2-3, the rolls or pockets 4 and is further provided withthe sides 2323, these sides closing the box. The braces 5 areunnecessary in this construction and the boxes or units are securedtogether by passing bolts 24 through their adjacent ends suitableopenings being formed in the ends for this purpose. These units aremounted on a frame similar to the frame previously described, the framepassing through. the openings 26 in the sides, the openings being inline with the center of the rolls 4. V

It is evident that many changes may be made in'the form, constructionand arrangement of the parts, for example, the units or boxes can bemade with a curved or other shaped back instead of an angular backshown. The rolls at the sides of the units may be changed or other meanssubstituted therefor, if found desirable. Other means for connecting theunits together may be substituted for those herein shown and described,or any other form of sign plate de-- sired may be substituted for thatherein shown and described. All these changes and manymore which Icontemplate come within the scope of my invention as set forth in theappended claims and for the urpose of showing and describing a particuar form of device is merely'to illustrate my invention, it being clearlyunderstood that I am not to be limited to the forms of my inventionshown and described.

1. In a sign, the combination with an undivided box composed of a seriesof separate units united together, illuminating means within the unitsand a sign su ported on the front of the box and adapte .to beilluminated by the illuminating means.

2. In a sign, the combination with an 0 en ended box, and means separatefrom the ex and adapted to close the ends of the box, illuminating meanswithin the box and a sign su ported on the front of the box and adapteto be .illuminated by the illuminating means.

3. Ina sign, the combinationwith a series of units means for connectingthe units together to form a single undiyidedbox, illuminating meanswithin the box, and a sign supported on the box and adapted to beilluminated by the illuminating means.v

4. In a sign, the combination with a series of open ended boxes, meansfor connecting the series of boxes-together to form a continuous box,means to close the ends of the continuous box, illuminating means withinthe continuous box,-and a sign supported on the front of the continuousbox and adapted to be illuminated by the illuminating means.

3 5. In a sign, the combination with a box triangular in cross-section,of a sign supported-on the base of the triangle and adapted to beilluminated from behind the sides of the triangle being adapted to formrefiectors, and illuminating means located in one of the angles betweenthe base and the sides.

6. In a sign, the combination with a box triangular in cross-section, ofa sign supported on the base of the triangle and adapted to beilluminated from behind, the sides of the triangle being adapted to formreflectors, and illuminating means located in the angles between thebase and the sides.

7. In a sign, the combination with a box or casing, of illuminatingmeans mounted in the casing, a sign su port-ed on the casing and adaptedto be ill iiminated by the illu minating means, the illuminating meansbeing mounted in the casing insubstantially the plane of the signwhereby the sign is illuminated by reflected light only.

8; In a sign, the combination with a box or casing, pockets formed atthe sides of the casing, illuminating means mounted in tlie pocketsftheback of the box being rovided with a reflecting surface for said illuminating means a sign mounted on the casing between the pockets and insubstantially the plane of the illuminating means and adapted to beilluminated by the illuminating means,

whereby the sign will be illuminated by reflected light only. I g

9. In a sign, the combination with aseries of units adapted to beconnected together to form a continuous box, each unit being composed ofabody portion having 0 en ends, and pockets adapted to receive t eilluminating means formed at the sides of the body portion, of means forclosing the open ends of the end units and a sign supported on the facesof'the units, and adapts to be illuminated from behind. 10. In a sign,the combination with a series of units means for connecting the unitstogether, a frame passing through the units and adapted to support thesame, illuminating means carried by the frame within the units, and asign-sup orted on the units and adapted to be illuminated by theilluminating means. 11. In asign, the combination with a series ofunits, means for connecting the units together, a frame composed ofpiping passing through the ends of the units and supporting the same,the frame being connected together at one end, illuminating meanscarried by the frame within the units and a sign supported on the unitsand adapted'to be illuminated by the illuminating means.

l2. In a sign, the combination with a series of units, of means forconnecting the units together, a frame composed of short pipe sectionsunited by couplings, illuminating means connected to the couplings andsupported within the units and a si 11 sup: ported on the units andadaptedto eilluminated by the illuminating means.

Signed by me at Washington, District of Columbia, this 27th day of April1905.

GEORGE L. MASON.

Witnesses:

FRANCES M. PHELPS, E. E. WARFIELD.

